EAEPC "excluded" from EU debate on fake drugs

The European Association of Euro-Pharmaceutical Companies (EAEPC) has "strongly welcomed" the organization by Members of European Parliament of a symposium on the issue of counterfeit medicines. The group says "it is crucial to bring together industry stakeholders, regulators and policy-makers in an effort to explore ways of reducing the risk of counterfeits reaching the European patient."

Heinz Kobelt, the EAEPC's secretary general, said: "we are fortunate that incidents of counterfeit pharmaceuticals are rare in Europe, but we must do everything to ensure this remains the case."

Despite its support for the symposium, the parallel distribution industry group was not invited to participate on the panel. The EAEPC, in a statement, expressed "regret" for the omission, which it argued was surprising, given that claims are made about the reliability of the parallel drug trade. There is no evidence linking parallel trade with fake drugs, despite claims to the contrary by some market players, the EAEPC said.